Hi everyone! I'm Jiro Kawaii, a mangaka who just loves BL!

My debut was in 2021 if I recall correctly, with two one-shot manga in anthologies! After that, I received an offer to work on a series. I had already been self-publishing manga, but when I started applying for a post-graduation job, I realized I couldn't give up drawing BL, which led me to pursue a career as a mangaka.

I get my ideas from people around me―those I met in college, those I've seen at my part-time job... Even if I don't know them, I make up their personalities and background, and if I love them enough, they become characters in my manga.

I can't think of anything specific, but I love stories involving college students!

In elementary school, I was already looking at fanworks, and I started reading commercial BL in high school. Around then, I remember being blown away by the manga Double Mints by Asumiko Nakamura, so much so that I recommended it to my mom. Looking back, that wasn't my brightest move...

I hate to admit it, but I don't tend to read up on topics related to my stories or go visit any sites I want to feature... but I still map out the details like my characters' hometowns and what kind of environments they live in. When I was working on My Cute Teacher, I based some details off of a school event that I went to see!

I'm interested in the Japanese police force as an organization, so even though I can't guarantee if or when it would happen, I'd love to do some research on them and create a manga around it!

Growth, hmm... I know I still have a lot to learn, but I feel I've made improvements on developing the plot. Lately, when I revise my manga, I can tell that I've gotten better at it!

I actually self-studied drawing manga, so I tend to go off of what feels right based on my instinct. When I divide the page into panels, I focus on making it easy for readers to follow. An editor once told me that I should incorporate more larger, dramatic panels into my work, so I've been thinking about that lately.

I love planning out the plot! Putting the characters who'd only been living inside my imagination onto the page makes their presence feel more real, and that helps me get even more ideas about their lines and conversations. It's so much fun!

My favorite scene from My Cute Teacher is definitely where Miyata tells Samehara at the ryokan that he doesn't want to break up. The way Miyata handles the situation is just so... him, and it demonstrates how they make each other complete.
From We'll Get Our Happy Ending, I like the scene where Jin is visiting Wataru and asks him about his love life. The way in which Jin remains playful but still gets jealous shows his prideful side, which I find cute. Another scene I like is when Wataru is regretting having been too harsh towards Soma from the stress of job hunting. I think everyone's experienced something similar and can relate.

Whoa, a college-aged couple and a teacher couple going on a double-date!? In that case, they'd go glamping in the mountains, with Miyata being the driver, haha. It'd be a digital detox for them. Samehara will cook a nice dinner for the group, and Wataru and Soma will just hang out while having the adults do all the work... LOL.

Wataru and Soma both played soccer in high school! In college, they end up meeting each other in the futsal club. As for me, I was in the kendo club, which became a source of inspiration for the setting and characterization in My Cute Teacher. I actually had to stop myself from getting too technical with kendo in the story since it wasn't meant to be a kendo manga!

Since Samehara is young and athletic, I think he'd be pretty popular. He'd even receive some chocolates from his students on Valentine's Day! While Miyata wouldn't have a group of fans swarming around him, he'd have some students who secretly have a crush on him. For Valentine's, he'd receive chocolates from students he didn't expect.

For Samehara, his favorite subject was English, and he hated math. Miyata's least favorite was modern Japanese literature, and he didn't have a favorite subject in particular.

Oh, this is a tough question! I don't know if I'm particularly like any one of them, but if I had to choose, it'd be Soma. He's the character I root for, haha!

I do try to pay attention to it. Unfortunately, I'm limited in terms of only being able to picture what they must be experiencing, but still, it'd make me happy if they seem realistic.

Thank you so much for featuring it on the Renta! BLog! It's probably the most detailed review article that exists out there, haha! It made me so happy to know that the work was meaningful for people outside Japan as well! I was also pleasantly surprised that the emotions and intricacies of college romance are something relatable for those from other countries, too. I appreciate you all for reading my manga, and of course, I love receiving comments from my English-speaking fans!

Hmm, Soma might be the quickest with his replies. He's pretty decisive, so I don't think he sweats the small details when it comes to texts. Wataru responds quickly to Soma and Takechi, but when involving others, he takes a while, or he just forgets to respond. Samehara usually replies right away, but he takes some time editing the messages he types out. Miyata only opens messaging apps when he has something he wants to send. So, to sum it up, it's Soma, Samehara, Wataru, and then Miyata from the quickest to slowest, with Samehara and Wataru being pretty similar.

I try to be mindful of making every word count in those scenes so that the characters' emotions are conveyed without getting too wordy.

I use a Wacom Cintiq Pro 16 that I purchased back in 2019. I do think it's time I bought a new one, but Wacom products are expensive, so I haven't been able to... LOL. In terms of software, I use Clip Studio Paint. I don't think I could ever draw manga without it.

Hmm... to be honest, I find all the body parts hard to draw, but if I had to choose, I like drawing hands since I can base my drawings off of my actual hands, haha.

I'm self-taught, since I majored in economics back in college. I would actually love to learn formally!

It honestly made me really happy! Thank you so much for translating my work!! I get excited about the fact that English speakers are also reading my manga!

When I made my official @kawaiijiro0 account, I just didn't have a good photo that was sized nicely for the header. That's how I ended up using one of the spicy tom yum soup noodles, which I was obsessed with at the time (LOL). I've always thought I should draw an illustration to use as the header, but I keep putting it off...

Lately, I've been enjoying going to the movies! There was one weekend where my friend and I watched three movies back to back―it was amazing. While I enjoy recent releases, I also get excited about screenings of older animated films.

Since I haven't been a mangaka for that long, I haven't experienced anything as major as art block. It might just be that I don't have the time to be experiencing one, since I've been fortunate enough to have enough work to keep me busy. But, when I got COVID, it took me about half a year to fully recover, so I just had to power through...! Still, when there's deadlines looming, I've managed to meet them somehow...

Oh, I think you're referring to the strawberry almond jelly milk tea from Gong Cha! I love it! I'm a huge fan of strawberry-milk flavor, and when I was in college, I'd get a strawberry-milk bubble tea almost every single day from a shop that was near my campus.

Give yourselves deadlines!

This is probably the most in-depth interview I've ever done!! I feel shy about having written so openly, but the fact that my writing will get translated makes me feel less self-conscious! I hope my responses aren't that tricky to translate and that those interested in my work will come across this interview! I'll continue creating BL manga―thank you!!